Search smh:

Hosts out swinging from the red corner

Alex Brown | August 25, 2008

SHOULD anyone really be surprised by China's success?

For a country with a long, complex history of bloody-minded
devotion to tasks - the Mings pledged millions of lives and a
couple of centuries to erecting a Mongol-proof fence - it seemed
all but inevitable that, once the decision to prospect for Olympic
gold had been made, the great haul of China would ensue.

But even the most jingoistic of Chinese supporters would dared
not have dreamed the extent of the Beijing gold rush. A country
just 24 years removed from winning its first Olympic medal
yesterday broke through the 50-gold barrier when light-flyweight
Zou Shiming beat Mongolia's Serdamba Purevdorj to record China's
first boxing triumph. And the success did not end there.
Light-heavyweight Zhang Xiaoping and super-heavyweight Zhang Zhilei
took China's overall medal count to an even 100, with gold over
Ireland's Kenny Egan and Italian Roberto Cammarelle,
respectively.

China's tally of 51 is the fourth-highest gold-medal haul in
non-boycotted Olympic history, and the most since the former USSR
took home 55 golds from the 1988 Games in Seoul. Their effort ended
the USA's 12-year reign as Olympic kings - although ESPN appears to
disagree, given its preference for counting total medals to decide
its champion - and featured golds across 20 diverse sporting
disciplines, including breakthrough victories in sailing, archery,
rowing and boxing.

China has been an Olympic tsunami in recent years, gathering
momentum with each campaign. Since claiming a mere five golds in
Seoul, the Chinese have finished with 16 (Barcelona and Atlanta),
28 (Sydney) and 32 (Athens) before their astonishing haul in
Beijing. And there is little reason to expect anything but a
continuation in 2012, and beyond. With funding and interest in
sport at an all-time high, and the Games leaving the country's
athletes with a legacy of world-best facilities, the planet's most
populous country has finally tapped its latent sporting potential
and become the superpower it long promised to be.

In the final two events of the 29th Olympics, China claimed gold
and silver in the men's light-and super-heavyweight classes,
prompting a nationalistic outpouring at the singing of the national
anthem, Yiyongjun Jinxingqu (March of the
Volunteers), that quickened the pulse and stirred the spirit of
all at the Workers' Gymnasium. That Zhang's victory over Egan came
in marginally controversial circumstances seemed to matter only to
the small but vocal Irish contingent, whose chants of "You'll never
beat the Irish" appeared grossly out of step with the sporting
revolution they have witnessed over the past fortnight.

China's experience in the ring contrasted sharply with that of
Cuba. Ravaged by defections and retirements in the lead-up to the
Games, Cuba failed to win a boxing gold for the first time since
the Mexico Olympics of 1968. Assuming they are spared another round
of desertions, Cuba will no doubt return with a vengeance in
London.

But they won't have it their own way. With China toasting its
first Olympic boxing champions, the gyms of a nation will heave as
a new generation of pugilists takes to the skip rope, heavy bag and
speed ball in their quest to become the next Zou or Zhang.

SPONSORED LINKS

1219516264737-smh.com.auhttp://www.smh.com.au/news/boxing/hosts-out-swinging-from-the-red-corner/2008/08/24/1219516264737.htmlsmh.com.auSydney Morning Herald2008-08-25Hosts out swinging from the red cornerAlex BrownOlympicsSportsBoxinghttp://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/08/24/th_wbBOXINGchina_index-lgthumb__90x60.jpg